Osmophobia Explained

Osmophobia or olfactophobia refers to a fear, aversion, or psychological hypersensitivity to odors. Osmophobia seems to be a consistent part of the patient’s migraine history, but additional criteria are needed to differentiate it from episodic tension-type headache (ETTH). ^[1] The phobia generally occurs in chronic migraine sufferers who may have odor triggered migraines.^{[2] [3]} Such migraines are most frequently triggered by foul odors, but the hypersensitivity may extend to all odors. One study found as many as 25% of migraine sufferers had some degree of osmophobia.^[4] The condition may also be present in individuals in substance withdrawal, specifically opioid withdrawal syndrome, where it is usually associated with nausea and/or vomiting.

The term osmophobia comes from the Greek ὀσμή - osmē, meaning "smell, odour"^[5] and φόβος - phobos, "fear".^[6] Olfactophobia comes from the Latin olfacto, "to smell at".^[7]

See also

• List of phobias
• Olfactory reference syndrome

External links

• Kelman L . The place of osmophobia and taste abnormalities in migraine classification: a tertiary care study of 1237 patients . Cephalalgia . 24 . 11 . 940–6 . November 2004 . 15482356 . 10.1111/j.1468-2982.2004.00766.x . 29074529 . free .
• Kelman L . Osmophobia and taste abnormality in migraineurs: a tertiary care study . Headache . 44 . 10 . 1019–23 . 2004 . 15546266 . 10.1111/j.1526-4610.2004.04197.x . 11480855 .

Notes and References

1. Chitsaz . Ahmad . Ghorbani . Abbas . Dashti . Masoumeh . Khosravi . Mohsen . Kianmehr . Mohammadreza . 2017-04-17 . The Prevalence of Osmophobia in Migranous and Episodic Tension Type Headaches . Advanced Biomedical Research . 6 . 44 . 10.4103/2277-9175.204587 . free . 2277-9175 . 5414411 . 28503499.
2. Web site: What's That Smell? An Expert Explains Phantom Smells and Osmophobia . 2024-08-22 . MigraineAgain.com . en-US.
3. Albanês Oliveira Bernardo . Albérico . Lys Medeiros . Fabiola . Sampaio Rocha-Filho . Pedro Augusto . 2020-05-03 . Osmophobia and Odor-Triggered Headaches in Children and Adolescents: Prevalence, Associated Factors, and Importance in the Diagnosis of Migraine . Headache . 60 . 5 . 954–966 . 10.1111/head.13806 . 1526-4610 . 32293736.
4. Zanchin . G . Dainese . F . Trucco . M . Mainardi . F . Mampreso . E . Maggioni . F . 2007-09-07 . Osmophobia in Migraine and Tension-Type Headache and Its Clinical Features in Patients With Migraine . Cephalalgia . en . 27 . 9 . 1061–1068 . 10.1111/j.1468-2982.2007.01421.x . 17681021 . 11577/115293 . 0333-1024. free .
5. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Do%29smh%2F ὀσμή
6. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dfo%2Fbos φόβος
7. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dolfacto olfacto